During False Nuclear Missile Alert, 911 Told Callers to Watch CNN for Answers

At first, Honolulu 911 operators were just telling people to turn on CNN, because they, too, had no idea whether a ballistic missile was really about to blow up the state.

“Hello, I just got a message on my telephone saying there’s a ballistic missile threat?” one woman said, in 911 calls just released this week by the Honolulu Police Department, capturing the panic on the day the state government accidentally warned all of Hawaii to take shelter immediately as a non-existent catastrophic missile approached.

“Yeah, at this time, we’re trying to see on the news, like CNN, because we just got the message too and we don’t have any answers right now,” the operator responded. “So we’re telling everybody, turn on the news and see what they’re saying, because right now we’re just getting inundated with calls.”